A device, system, or article might include a switch that a user physically manipulates in order to activate a function of the device, system, or article. For circumstances where such direct physical manipulation of a switch might not be desired, other types of switching devices, such as a switch having magnets, might be used. For example, a toy may include an embedded magnet in one component and a magnetic switch in a second component that is actuated by the embedded magnet. However, magnetic switches typically require mating switch parts to touch or nearly touch each other. Additionally, the types of switches discussed thus far conventionally operate between two states—an open state and a closed state. No other functionality or communication information is provided by these types of switches or devices. Moreover, these types of switches and devices often do not offer aesthetic or informative value to the user. As such, these types of switching mechanisms offer limited application flexibility and do not provide an indication or status feedback other than the state of the switch itself (i.e., either on or off).